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Recently I attended a facilitator training for the Body Project Collaborative. Sponsored locally by The Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (www.edct.net), I had heard this was the most successful, research-based program used to address potentially harmful body image issues and to prevent early onset eating disorders from going any further. Being a 20-year survivor of anorexia and bulimia myself, I wholeheartedly support everything we can do to prevent these severe and often fatal illnesses from taking root and growing amidst a culture inundated with the thin ideal media messages.

We were made a lofty promise at the start of the training- that it would significantly change the way we feel about our body image and how we would treat our bodies going forward. In the process of training to be facilitators, we were also able to experience being participants and for me, these goals were realized halfway through the two-day training! But perhaps the biggest surprise for me was seeing that the Body Project Collaborative would be beneficial for every single one of us constantly being exposed to a culture which reinforces unrealistic beauty ideals and puts way too much emphasis on external appearance. I look forward to taking a small part in advancing this movement of greater body acceptance and cultivating a new message, “I am beautiful and already enough exactly the way I am today.” Another great approach to Finding The Gift!

Please contact me if you are interested in discussing how to personally participate in a community-based session of the Body Project Collaborative, or how to bring this program to your local group.